Surname-i Humayun

The Surname-i Humayun (The Book of Imperial Festivities), ordered by the Ottoman court in the 1580s to be presented to Sultan Murad III, portrays the streets and denizens of Istanbul in a celebratory fashion no doubt to please the sultan. The surname was to be an expanded version of the original, commemorating the 1582 imperial circumcision festival, and is unique in its format: each miniature is juxtaposed by a narrative text, written by the scribe Intizami. The festival, which took place over forty-eight days, brought an elaborate and highly entertaining spectacle to the city’s streets. Not only did the sultan parade himself through the streets for Istanbul’s denizens, even though he is often depicted immobile, but the city’s guilds put on lavish floats and paraded themselves for the pleasure of the sultan. The float pictured here, painted by the miniature artist Nakkas Osman, documents the architects guild marching through the Hippodrome and carrying an imposing model of the Suleymaniye mosque. If the sultan was especially pleased by a float, he would throw gold coins upon it and its makers.